it was disheartening to hear john boehner come out yesterday and say we are nowhere near any sort of progress or any sort of outcome. >> we have been talking. >> clayton: we have been having lunch, haven't been talking to the other side. and look we have the countdown clock, 23 days. and republicans are basically saying, look, the president doesn't want to do this, doesn't want to have an agreement. the president though is saying, look, we can get this done. let's listen to the president first. >> when all of this, bypassing a law that prevents a tax like on the first $250,000 of everybody's income, that means 90% of americans and 97% of small businesses wouldn't see their income taxes go up by a single dime and even the wealthiest americans would get a tax cut on the first $250 of their income and families everywhere would enjoy some peace of mind. >> see, the thing is here, republicans think that the president doesn't want to do anything. at the end of the day, if the president dogs nothing, the bush tax cuts expire. by negotiating. it's almost he has less of a chance by not doing